Three keys, 431 coins, 196 iron pellets and 17 small bolts were removed from 26 year old Kamleshwar Singh’s tummy in a three-hour operation in the state’s Korba district on Sunday.

Let alone the doctors, even the parents and relatives of Singh were shocked when they were told he had swallowed so many iron objects.

Bhojram Dewangan, the director of Shreesti Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, said: “The patient had been consuming small iron objectsfor the last nine months. He visited us complaining of intolerable abdominal pain. After sonography and X-ray tests, the doctors carried out the major surgery.”

“We will keep him under observation for a few days. His condition appears stable,” Dewangan added.

Before the operation, the doctors had prescribed pain killers to singh for his regular pains, but they only gave him temporary relief. Citing weakness, he had even stopped going to his farm.

The doctors said the diagnostic tests had only shown opaque foreign bodies in the stomach.

Dr. L.N. Yadav, who led the team that operated upon Singh, said: “All the iron objects were lying at the base of his stomach. When we started the surgery, we thought we would found a few items. But as we progressed, we were amazed to find sucha huge number of coins and pellets. “He added that Singh was lucky nothing had passed into his intestines. “Signs of chronic ulcerationwere apparent in the stomach,” he said.

Singh, surprishingly, did not reveal why he “ate” so much “iron”. His wife was much concerned.

“My husband complained of frequent stomach ache and spent sleepless night in the past four weeks. But he kept us in the dark about swallowing iron objects. He stopped going to the field citing weakness and was even unable to have his regular meals,” she said.

According to health experts, Singh seems to be suffering from Pica (dosorder). “The disorder is largely psychiatric, in which the patient has an appetite for non-nitritional substance, such as hair, chalk or glass,” senior surgeon Dr. A. R. Dalla, who was former chairman of the Chhattisgarh Red Cross Society, said.

But even he added that, “consuming iron objects in such large numbers is bewildering.”